The internship portfolio is an opportunity for you to create a professional electronic
employment portfolio. The portfolio is due one week before classes end (as opposed to
when the semester ends). Submit the portfolio through JobCat (http://jobcat.wcu.edu/ ).
The best way to do this portfolio is to compile all of the contents below into one Word
file and then save it as a PDF (copy and paste the Excel file containing your annotated
list of work hours into the Word document). All portfolio contents should be
professionally written (edit and proofread carefully) and designed.
Portfolio Contents
1. An annotated list of your work hours. Write a brief description of what you did
every time you reported for work during your internship and record the number
of hours each time, too.
Please use the Excel spreadsheet, “Internship Annotated Hours Revised,” to
record your hours and annotations (included on Canvas and the English(Co-Op(and(
Internship(Info(webpage).
2. A two- to three-page memo summarizing your internship experience. Use proper
memo format and address the memo to the director of the Professional Writing
program. Remember this memo should be professionally written (e.g., include full
paragraphs, transitions, sufficient detail, etc.).
Memo format:
Date:
To:
From: Your name
Subject: Internship Experience
The body of the memo should be single-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins, and
double spaced between paragraphs. Do not indent paragraphs.
This memo offers you a chance to reflect on your internship experience.
o First, identify where and with whom you worked. Summarize what you did
during your internship.
o Next, detail specifics of the experience. For example, you might address some
of the following questions:
§ What were the highs and lows of this experience?
§ Did this internship help you understand your chosen career field better? In
what ways?
§ Did you develop specific new skills? If so, what skills?
§ Did you learn new technology? Explain.
§ Did your workplace supervisor guide you well or did you wish for more on-
the-job instruction? Explain.
§ Did you come to understand the business of writing and editing more
deeply? In what ways?
§ Did you learn more than you hoped to about office politics and/or soft
skills? Such as?
§ Have you changed or modified your future plans abased on this internship?
Explain.
§ Do you have suggestions for how the Department of English Studies might
better prepare future interns? Be constructive.
o Finally, include a discussion of any other aspects of the internship or co-op
that you want to address.
3. Three to four samples of your writing or editing work. Each sample should be
preceded by a short introduction or paragraph that explains what the sample is,
who it was written for, and any other significant information you would like to
share about it. If the piece was collaboratively written, provide proper attribution
for the other writer(s).
Write this part of the portfolio for future employers. The introduction for each
sample provides employers with context, such as audience, purpose, and the
breadth and depth of your work on this project.
Example:
This first example is a letter of inquiry (LOI) to the Kettering Family Foundation
for the Live Blue Ambassadors program at the Aquarium. Live Blue Ambassadors
is a youth volunteer program that educates Aquarium visitors about how to save
the blue planet. Volunteers also work in the field to conduct research with
scientists, collect samples, and clean up the waterways in and around Boston.
I was the sole author of the original draft, but I worked with my supervisor,
Meghan Driscolll, to edit it for submission. The information presented in the letter
was gathered from sources across several Aquarium departments and was then
compiled into an original LOI.
>The letter of inquiry is inserted after this short introduction.
